Reconsidering Voluntary Simplicity
(disclaimer - this is something I have been working on for some time and has little or nothing to do with the current financial crisis facing us.)
I am attracted to a lifestyle of Voluntary Simplicity. I want to break the bonds of materialism and consumerism and retreat further from the current culture of death. So I research ('cause I'm a research junkie) and I find things like this:
-Reconsider the need for a vacation home or property.
- Ask yourself if you really need sport boats, vehicles, and other large pieces of equipment.
Are you KIDDING ME???? I am so FAR from a lifestyle that includes a VACATION HOME or a BOAT!! What can I possibly learn from people who have simplified from that??
Even the smaller, less income related items really really don't apply to me:
- Reconsider all subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and newsletters that you have.
-End membership in any club or organization that you have not participated in during the past six months.
Yeah, right. Because we have money for multiple magazine subscriptions and time for clubs!! HaHaHa!
And then there is the whole declutter thing:
-Consider disposing of extra versions of items that you can only wear one at a time.
For example: pairs of shoes, clothing, coats and jackets, sunglasses, belts, and hats.
You certainly will want to have a variety of clothing for seasonal weather or style variations, but do you need three winter coats? Do you need four pairs of boots? Four belts?
-TACTIC: Pay particular attention to getting rid of items that are useful, but not in the quantity you may have accumulated.
For example, pots and pans. You certainly need them, but do you need five saucepans or three frying pans? Other examples include: pencils, pens, radios, clocks, chairs, extension cords, lamps, luggage, and calendars.
I do not own even one pair of boots or a belt or sunglasses! I definately don't have five saucepans! We can't ever find pens or pencils, we own broken chairs (as in these are our only chairs), and limited other things.
It seems like I need to reconsider Voluntary Simplicity as I am already LIVING it according to these standards.
And yet I want something more. I want less.
I am attracted to a lifestyle of Voluntary Simplicity. I want to break the bonds of materialism and consumerism and retreat further from the current culture of death. So I research ('cause I'm a research junkie) and I find things like this:
-Reconsider the need for a vacation home or property.
- Ask yourself if you really need sport boats, vehicles, and other large pieces of equipment.
Are you KIDDING ME???? I am so FAR from a lifestyle that includes a VACATION HOME or a BOAT!! What can I possibly learn from people who have simplified from that??
Even the smaller, less income related items really really don't apply to me:
- Reconsider all subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and newsletters that you have.
-End membership in any club or organization that you have not participated in during the past six months.
Yeah, right. Because we have money for multiple magazine subscriptions and time for clubs!! HaHaHa!
And then there is the whole declutter thing:
-Consider disposing of extra versions of items that you can only wear one at a time.
For example: pairs of shoes, clothing, coats and jackets, sunglasses, belts, and hats.
You certainly will want to have a variety of clothing for seasonal weather or style variations, but do you need three winter coats? Do you need four pairs of boots? Four belts?
-TACTIC: Pay particular attention to getting rid of items that are useful, but not in the quantity you may have accumulated.
For example, pots and pans. You certainly need them, but do you need five saucepans or three frying pans? Other examples include: pencils, pens, radios, clocks, chairs, extension cords, lamps, luggage, and calendars.
I do not own even one pair of boots or a belt or sunglasses! I definately don't have five saucepans! We can't ever find pens or pencils, we own broken chairs (as in these are our only chairs), and limited other things.
It seems like I need to reconsider Voluntary Simplicity as I am already LIVING it according to these standards.
And yet I want something more. I want less.
posted by kori at 1:38 PM
1 Comments:
Your comments made me laugh. I went through a phase of reading a lot of voluntary simplicity stuff several years ago, and I do still enjoy some of those ideas. But, I agree, it seems like a lot of it comes from a place I haven't seen - a place of WAY too much stuff. No extra boats or vacation homes around here. (It also tends to come from a childless or limited number of children perspective.) I figure I should just take it as a warning - even if I could have some of that stuff, I should think long and hard before complicating my life with it.
Jennifer (from Mary's Keys)
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